Frank Ayres left Ohio and came to Los Angeles at the turn of the last century. He was looking for some development opportunities, and within a short time he found them and established a company in 1905.

By the Roaring Twenties, his son had entered the business and they began building roads — Pico Boulevard was one of the first.

With the advent of Hollywood, a need for houses became apparent and by the 1950s, another Ayres came into the firm.

By the 1980s, hotels were needed. Ayres went into these as well. Today there are 23 of them — all business hotels.

The newest Ayres project, the Allegretto Vineyard Resort in Paso Robles, is running at full steam, two years after it opened. It’s the Allegretto Resort hotel, a different kind of place to rest your head.

It is and continues to be the brainchild of Frank Ayres’ great grandson, Douglas.

Douglas Ayres wanted to create the ultimate in luxury with a design theme of a Mediterranean villa about 100-200 years old. He began by importing from France 80-year-old vines to add a sense of authenticity to the outside.

The building itself is constructed around a courtyard with the soft glow of Mediterranean colors — beige, sand and pinks. Even on a cloudy day the place positively radiates the type of atmosphere only found in the original cradle of civilization.

I was given an interesting tour of the facility. We looked at much of the art, all chosen personally by Douglas, and also the floors and statues outside. There is a chapel where people can get married, or just meditate.

When you contemplate the enormous project of constructing a hotel of 170 rooms with dining, conference rooms, a ballroom and places for people to just sit and enjoy this remarkable place, it is bewildering. How would you start?

In fact, this one began with eight acres of vineyards — the grapes are turned into the house blend, about 2,000 cases a year which is considered modest. You can taste the product in the tasting room run by John, who has been in the wine business for 20 years. He also has lots of other labels for you to sample.

The hotel then started in the middle of this vineyards, making room for a full size heated saline swimming pool — better for the environment and, I’m told, the skin.

Throughout the grounds, and also inside in the lounge areas, gas log fires gently warm the air when temperatures drop.

The dining room can be both formal and informal and the cuisine, under the direction of new chef, Justin, is just about right and not overwhelming. There is a long marble topped bar with a good selection of craft beers and cocktails served by a knowledgeable staff.

In all, I found the staff to be very helpful and no overly fussy. Many places in the hospitality business make the mistake of considering too much attention to their guests as being caring.

Often it is just annoying. The Allegretto, along with everything else, has the perfect balance.
It would be most interesting to see how Frank Ayres would view this latest direction that the firm has taken. I’m sure he would beam with pride at such a monument to his original dream of making it big in California.

“Trevor’s Travels (in Southern California)” is available from amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. You can reach Trevor Summons at trevorsummons@hotmail.com.

Trevor Summons writes about getaways in the Inland Empire and beyond. His book, “Trevor’s Travels (in Southern California),” is available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Email trevorsummons@hotmail.com.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.